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GodCalling: "Thamks for Trials"
DailyWay: God’s Kingdom
Posted: 12 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST
There are two kingdoms—the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are adopted into the kingdom of God.
Being a citizen of a country means that you have special privileges. These vary from country to country. However, as a citizen of God’s kingdom, we become members of the royal family. We are joint heirs with Christ. We have access to the throne of God. We have personal fellowship with the King of kings. We are His beloved children.
In order to become a citizen of a country other than the one in which you are born, you must meet certain requirements. The kingdom of God requires its citizens to accept the reign of a wise and loving King. It means acknowledging Christ as our Lord and Savior. It means being obedient to the Word of God. It requires our saying, “Lord, not my will, but Yours be done.”
Human nature is selfish. What we think we need is foremost in our actions and prayers. Prayer that revolves around our own plans, desires, and needs, however, can be contrary to God’s Word.
When we surrender our lives to Christ and submit ourselves to Him, we are placing our will in submission to the Lord’s. Thus we begin to pray, “Lord, reign in my life, dominate my thoughts, show me Your will.”
Within each of us rages the war between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. With Christ we have the victory. Knowing this, press on, armed with the confidence that God hears us and will answer our prayers.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil (1 Peter 3:12).Posted via email from ..................The Last Call Digest
OneYear: January 12th
Genesis 26:17-27:46 ~ Matthew 9:1-17 ~ Psalm 10:16-18 ~ Proverbs 3:9-10 Old Testament - Today's Genesis chapter 26 readings open up with Isaac digging wells - and then moving on when the Philistine's contest the wells. This shows an incredible amount of patience on Isaac's behalf. In this arid region of Gerar, water was like gold and people often battled over water. Filling in someone's well was akin to declaring war. Below is an aerial map of where Gerar and Beersheba are located, just on the northern edge of the Negev desert (see lower left corner of map): Verse 22 stood out to me in these readings about the wells: "Abandoning that one, he dug another well, and the local people finally left him alone. So Isaac called it "Room Enough," for he said, "At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be able to thrive."" For me this was reminiscent of Abraham giving Lot the choice of lands when there was disputes between their herdsmen. Abraham was confident that God would provide even with "2nd choice" of the lands - and Isaac here seems to be following in his father's footsteps of wisdom. I also like the naming of the well - "Room Enough." I think sometimes in our world today we can get so competitive with each other, thinking that there is a limited sized pie and we have to get our piece of it! "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" author Steven Covey calls this the "scarcity mentality" - and he encourages us to instead operate with an "abundance mentality" - that there is ultimately enough pie for everyone. That there is Room Enough. (perhaps we do need to do a better job sometimes of sharing our pieces of the pie however... see our Psalms & Proverbs today on this point) How do you find yourself operating in your own life - more often out of the scarcity mentality or the abundance mentality? Do you see the risk of the scarcity mentality? And the blessing of the abundance mentality? Do you believe that there is Room Enough? Below is a modern day photo of a well near the entrance to Beersheba that is believed to be the well Isaac and his servants dug in chapter 25 verses 23-25: "From there Isaac moved to Beersheba, where the Lordappeared to him on the night of his arrival. “I am the God of your father, Abraham,” he said. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant.” Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. He set up his camp at that place, and his servants dug another well." Genesis chapter 27 today is a very interesting and challenging chapter... both Jacob and Rebekah are deceitful. And Isaac is suspicious of the whole charade. And yet, Jacob receives the verbal blessing from Isaac, which was binding back in those days. I think this chapter is challenging in that it can bring up the question of sin - and can sin be used to fulfill God's will? You know I'm going to defer to our resident-expert on Genesis - Bob Deffinbaugh from bible.org. :) Check out this quote from Bob in his summary of this chapter: "The purpose of God as expressed to Rebekah in Genesis 25:23 was perfectly accomplished without one alteration. The sins of Isaac and Esau and Rebekah and Jacob did not in any way thwart God’s will from being done. In fact, their sins were employed by God in such a way as to achieve the will of God. God’s sovereignty is never thwarted by man’s sin. To the contrary, God is able to achieve His purposes by employing man’s sinful acts to further His plans." Then, check out everything Bob has to say on this challenging chapter at this link. Surf down to Bob's Conclusion at this link if nothing else - it is very intriguing! Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter in the Comments below. Below is an oil painting from 1639 by Dutch Baroque painter Govert Teunisz Flinck (who was a pupil of Rembrandt) of Isaac blessing Jacob: New Testament - In Matthew chapter 9 we read about Jesus not only healing - but also forgiving sins. This is a power and an authority - forgiving sins - that only God could truly have. It is true that Jesus would be blaspheming, per the teachers of religious law in this passage, if Jesus was not God. So, perhaps for some reading this blog, this might be a good point for you to ask yourself: do you believe that Jesus is God? If this is your first go through the Bible or the gospel of Mathew, you may not feel ready to answer this question yet. But ask it of yourself now - and again as you continue to read this gospel: do you believe that Jesus is God? Do you believe that Jesus, as God, could not only heal the paralytic but forgive his sins as well? In today's readings, Jesus calls Matthew (or "Levi"), the author of this Gospel, and a Jewish tax collector at the time of his call. Note that while Jerusalem was under the authority of Rome at this time, Rome would hire Jews to collect taxes from other Jews that would be paid to Rome. The Jewish tax collectors were allowed to keep a commission or percentage of the taxes they collected - however, they were notorious for overcharging and making more than they should have in their collections. As such, Jewish tax collectors were typically not allowed to be in the temple - nor were they even trusted as witnesses in trials. And this is our Gospel writer! :) (yes, I still trust Matthews writings - he, like us, was forgiven & changed after meeting Jesus) Below is a painting of Jesus calling Matthew at his tax collector booth - I love how Matthew is very attentive in this image toward Jesus in the midst of all the chaos around him. Are you this attentive toward Jesus in your life today? In this chapter Jesus has a meal with "tax collectors and other notorious sinners." And the religious leaders ask Jesus why he eats with such "scum." I do hope that you see that this is such an amazing thing about Jesus - he will have a meal with anyone - the "scum of the earth" as one translation calls sinners who believe in Jesus in one of Paul's letters. Jesus loves the "scum". And he gets frustrated with the religious leaders who are righteous in their own eyes. Why the difference? I think verses 12 & 13 answer this well: "When he heard this, Jesus replied, "Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do... For I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough." So, this leads to some questions we may want to ask ourselves today. Are we spiritually healthy or are we sick? Do we need a spiritual doctor? Do we need Jesus? Are we sinners? Or, do we think we are already "good enough" on our own? Like Jesus, will we talk and dine with "sinners" in our lives today? Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Matthew chapter 9 titled "The Authority to Forgive Sins" is at this link. Psalms - I love Psalm 10 verses 17 & 18 today: "LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will listen to their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them." The Psalmist here tells us that God knows the hopes of the helpless. Do we? Do we care? The Psalmist says God will listen to their cries and comfort them. Are we listening? Are we comforting? God will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them. Should we do this as well? Will we? Will you? Proverbs - Proverbs 3:9-10 teaches us today: "Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything your land produces. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with the finest wine." This is a wonderful reminder to bring our tithes and offerings to God, and he will bless us immensely. We are not called to bring our leftovers - but our first fruits. Are the first checks we write each month our tithes and offerings? Do we write these checks with a joyful and thankful heart to God for this opportunity to give back to Him? Or do we wait and see what we have left over to give each month... and maybe give not so joyfully or thankfully? Which way is the most honoring to God? Worship God: Jesus' forgiveness of sins in our Matthew readings today reminded me of the incredible song "Jesus Paid It All," performed here live at Passion 2006 by Kristian Stanfill: Did Jesus Pay It All for you? Click here for redemption! Please join me in memorizing and meditating on two verses of Scripture today: "Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." Proverbs 3:9-10 Prayer Point: Pray about your tithing to God. Ask God if you are tithing in the ways and in the amounts He would have you. Pray that God would lead you to the specific amount you should be tithing each month and to the specific church(es) and ministry(s). And pray that you would be obedient to God's leading in your life in the area of tithing. Comments from You and Questions of the Day: From our Matthew readings today, Jesus dining with sinners did make me wonder this question, which I posted above: Like Jesus, will we talk and dine with "sinners" in our lives today? Or, do we consider ourselves somehow "above" talking and dining with sinners? One thing that I have to be careful of - and maybe all of us do - is not getting myself stuck in the "Christian bubble" or the "Christian ghetto." Meaning, I think we can sometimes find ourselves just spending time, just talking with, just dining with our Christian friends. And then after a while find ourselves completely removed from the world that needs to experience Jesus' love and light and truth through us. I think we are called to minister in the world. Yes, there is a time and place for sure to fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters. But, I think we do well to find some occasion to talk and dine with "sinners" (not so unlike ourselves, also sinners...) like Jesus did. So, how are you doing with finding time to talk and dine with folks who perhaps do not yet know God or Jesus? Do you think this is something you should be doing? Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below! God bless,January 12th One Year Bible Readings
~ Click here to read today's Scripture on BibleGateway.com ~ // Mobile Site Link
~ Listen to today's Scripture on OneYearAudioBible.org or DailyAudioBible.com (podcast) ~
Mike
Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow
Just a little humor for you if you are stuck in the snow.
This is from the Year I lived in Nome Alaska. I loved it, Hosanna, the blond, and Red, the Red dog, are no longer with us.
It was never so cold for me that it was three dog night, but most were definitely a two dog.
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DailyHope: Your Goals Should Bring God Glory
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MikeMacintosh: "stress and anxiety"
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MarkBalmer: "Comfortable?"
Based on “Unlimited Opportunities, Part 1” by Pastor Mark Balmer; 1/8-9/11,
Message #MB446; Daily Devotional #2 - “Comfortable?”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): I want to put a picture in your mind. Imagine a mountainous area with big open grassy meadows. In one of those meadows is a small stream. The rest of the scene has no running water. In the meadow with the stream is a herd of sheep. There seems to be abundant grass and water nearby, and the sheep are content right where they are. They have no desire to move. So, what will eventually happen if they are allowed to stay there? First, they will start to run out of food. Now you would think they would say to themselves, we are running out of food and look for more elsewhere. However, that is not how a sheep thinks. They will wander, but not far. As they start running out of food, they get used to less and less. Eventually, they could become so weak from a lack of food that they couldn’t move somewhere else if they wanted to. The problem was not a lack of grass and water. The problem was that they were content where they were, becoming content with less and less, until they no longer had a choice. If those sheep had a shepherd to guide them, they would not have been starving. The shepherd leads them where they need to be, not necessarily where they want to be (Exodus 16:1-3).
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): We can become complacent in our walk with Christ, as well. We can easily say, "There seems to be plenty of water and grass. I will just stay here." As the grass starts to get lean we might say, "As we mature we will not experience things as we did when we first believed." Or when something new is introduced we could think, "Well, that is not how God works here!" Complacency - self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual danger or deficiencies. Complacency is against change, against new ideas, against anything that would encourage us to move from our comfort zone. Complacency also breeds dead religion, looking for God to work in the exact same way and trying to put Him in a box. There is not a box big enough to contain God and the ways He chooses to work in our lives. You cannot go with God and stay where you are.
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20, NLT) God does not want us to be complacent in our relationship with Him. He wants to stretch us and take us places where we have to depend upon Him to show up. God does not receive glory in good people doing good things. He receives glory when He does God sized things through us. Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” (Matthew 19:26, NLT) Today, look for where God is leading. It will be away from that place of comfort. Yet, if we cannot trust God to lead us, then who can we trust? Are you wiser than God? Do you know a better path to take? Do you know all things and what is really around the corner? God does. His desire is the very best for us. Today, step out and follow wherever He is leading. The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)
Cultivating (Additional Reading): Philippians 3:7-14
wm
Calvary Chapel of Melbourne; 2955 Minton Road; W. Melbourne, FL 32904; 321-952-9673
All Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.
New Living Translation = NLT.
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TheBigPicture: "The Sale of a Birthright"
January 12
The Sale of a Birthright
References:-->Genesis 25:19-26:25; Psalm 7:6-8; Proverbs 3:7-8
This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begot Isaac. Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If all is well, why am I like this?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.
And the LORD said to her:
"Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger."
So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary." Therefore his name was called Edom.
But Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright as of this day."
And Esau said, "Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?"
Then Jacob said, "Swear to me as of this day."
So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
Then the LORD appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."
So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, "She is my sister"; for he was afraid to say, "She is my wife," because he thought, "lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she isbeautiful to behold." Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, "Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, 'She is my sister'?"
Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die on account of her.'"
And Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us." So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him. Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we."
Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.
Also Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah. And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."
Then he went up from there to Beersheba. And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham's sake." So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well.
Genesis 25:19-26:25
WORSHIP
Arise, O LORD, in Your anger;
Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies;
Rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded!
So the congregation of the peoples shall surround You;
For their sakes, therefore, return on high.
The LORD shall judge the peoples;
Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
And according to my integrity within me.
Psalm 7:6-8
WISDOM
Do not be wise in your own eyes;Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones.
Proverbs 3:7-8
GregLaurie: "Skeptical Thomas"
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